Spencer Turns 50

You only turn 50 once, so I decided to make this a celebration to remember. As such, I started early, and ended late.

Round 1: Family My first party came on September 7. On that day my family gathered in Portland. As it turned out, my niece and nephew Sarah and Aanen needed help putting the finishing touches on their house. Many of us went over there to plant bushes, install woodwork, and whatever other odd jobs needed doing. It was a great work party, complete with delivered pizza for lunch. Daddy had a little shock when he dug into some kind of power line. (Actually, the line didn’t break, so he just was surprised to find it.) We ended the day around 3 and headed over to Emmy’s.

Emily and Sheila had been setting up the birthday party there. Balloons and signs greeted us as we arrived. While we were waiting for critical mass to arrive for the softball game, we watched the Ducks stink up the field against Fresno State. Brooke and I couldn’t take it anymore, so we went to the school and started hitting the ball around.

Eventually most of the gang showed up at the ball field. We started by playing workup, but eventually chose up teams. Lots of the little girls from Peter and Leslie’s and Joy and James’ families rounded out the squads. They could hit the ball pretty well, too. I learned that you can’t talk to the right fielder (Greta) while playing second base when Don is pitching. He pitched the ball while I was talking. I turned back toward the plate and everyone was yelling at me. They pointed to the sky, I stuck out my glove, and the baseball landed two feet away from me. Sometimes songs lie. But I got to slide headfirst into second later on, so the game was a success. Final score must have been 25-25.

A tired, dusty troupe headed back to Em’s for BBQ dinner. The food just kept on coming. That was followed, of course, by homemade cake and ice cream. I was incredibly touched by having the family sing Happy Birthday to me. It was the first time that had happened in 32 years. I felt wrapped, surrounded, cocooned in love.

Later that evening, we took our sparklers out into the cul-de-sac. I’d brought 50 to celebrate with. We set them off with the little girls asking for more, more, more. So Emily dragged out a huge supply of unused stuff from the 4th of July. Soon we had fountains of sparks and little poppers going off all over the place. The neighborhood loved it and even joined in.

What a party. I’m so blessed to have such a wonderful family to live with.

Round 2: Friends The next Saturday, I headed for Vashon for a party with my closest circle of friends. I had rented a retreat center (complete with hot tub and yurt) for 24 hours. I was hoping to spend quality time with each of them.

When we arrived, my good friend Cheri was already there. We spent more than an hour catching up with her stories from New York and our stories from Seattle. Then other guests started arriving. Rick and Carol Hammond, Bill and Sooz, and Richard and Dianne all appeared by 4:30. We set up a rousing game of croquet, on a terraced lawn complete with rocks and weeds for obstacles. It was amazing how many sure shots went awry as one ball hopped over another. Cheri eventually outlasted everyone else.

Richard and Sheila had been setting up the diner while the rest of us played. Another BBQ, this one all vegan from the Boca Burgers to the homemade baked beans. Rick and Carol had to leave early, but eventually Jon and Diane Taylor and Ted and Laura Gillette showed up. We gathered around the campfire for our ceremony.

I’d asked everyone to submit a song to Richard that reminded them of me somehow. Then he compiled them onto a tape. We played the tape at the campfire while we ate vegan chocolate mousse cake. I’d try to guess who sent the song. They’d tell a story. It was a blast.

The songs were amazingly eclectic. I’d expected a lot of 60’s songs. Instead, I got “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me” by Karen Chandler, Sinatra’s “Young at Heart”, Kermit the Frog’s “Rainbow Connection”, John Lennon singing “Imagine”, Doo Doo Wah from Modesto, California railing about turning 50, “Barbara Ann” by the Beach Boys, “Cheap Seats” by Alabama, as well as the expected “Desperado” by the Eagles and “Singin’ in the Rain.” Not a single Beatles tune!

The stories were all touching though. We laughed and laughed and laughed. As a final song, Richard and Dianne added Bob Dylan’s version of “Forever Young”. “May you staaaaaaay……… forever young.” A nice thought to end on.

Some folks went home. Some went to bed. Some went to the hot tub. The next morning we had a yoga session, a big breakfast and another croquet game. The high point for me was when I was ready to go through the midway wicket and was hit by Bill. Bill carefully set up to send my ball flying. Then he put his foot down on the wrong ball and sent himself flying! Ooops. He redeemed himself by winning the game later.

We played some cards, had some lunch, then had to call it quits. It had been a great 24 hours with some very special people. And the fun wasn’t over yet.

Round 3: At homeWhen we arrived home, there was Russ and his son Matt waiting on our doorstep. They’d been unable to get all the way up to Vashon (from California, via Portland) in time for the party, so just met us at home. John and Lynn also were visiting. We played the tape from the party, ate more corn on the cob and chocolate cake, and then sat around telling stories into the evening. It was great to have some time with Russ, even if it wasn’t around a campfire.

Round 4: The actual day Finally, my actual birthday came. I went to school as usual, but that’s when the usual things stopped. My work partner, Colby, had set up another surprise for me. She had the kids write stories about how Mr. B saved the day. Of course there were also brownies to share. She also had all the fifth graders in the school bring me bags of 50…..50 marshmallows, 50 popcorns, 50 toothpicks, 50 M&Ms, etc. etc. The day ended when I was presented with 50 paper beards, which they had worn when they had the photo taken on the back steps (see below). At our staff meeting after school, my birthday twin Nancy (thanks for the rubber ducks, Nancy!) and I were feted by the whole staff. Another cake. More singing. More fun.

To end the day, Sheila and I went to a party put on by our yoga teacher. She also turned 50 this week, and chose my day as the day for her community party. There was a free yoga lesson, a potluck dinner, musical entertainment, and performances by a human jazz machine and a belly dancer. Denise also had silly hats for all her guests.

The next night we had cake with our meditation group and lit the last of the sparklers in the street. By the time it ended, I had pretty well partied myself out. It was great.